7 Day Detox + Downloads

The word ‘detox’ is thrown around a lot. It can mean a juice cleanse, a fast, a whole 30 – and it can apply to all sorts of different aspects of life: exercise, nutrition, inner peace.

I like to think of it as a sort of generic phrase to mean reset. To take into account where ever I am right now, compare it to where I’d like to be, and then to start over, cold turkey with where I want to be, all while throwing in a couple little extras to help me cleanse out some of the ‘gunk’ that may have accumulated in my system from my recent poor food choices, lack of exercise, late nights, etc.

I’m also strongly of the opinion that it’s impossible to only detox one area of your life and have amazing results. I know for a fact, that even if I eat SUPER clean all week long, and drink tons of water, but only get 4 hours of sleep a night, I won’t have the best results possible. Same goes for if I get tons of sleep, drink all the water, but don’t work out once, or eat cake all week. A true detox has to cover everything. I think this rule alone, is why it’s called a detox, and not a lifestyle.

Real life: I work out 2 – 3 times a week, drink all my water about every other day, and have a bag of chips, or a slice of cake AT LEAST once a week. I also average 5 hours of sleep a night. I’d love to live every days in a holistic, happy, well rested detox state of mind, but it’s simply not possible, at least, not without going COMPLETELY CRAZY (and I’m already half way there, lets not push our luck here!) So, instead of striving for something impossible, I will occasionally do a little reset. Typically it’s after a particularly hard week, a long vacation, or a holiday, when I know I’ve veered way off course. I’ll reel myself back in, get back on track, and then slowly go back to my normal-ish life, until I get a bit too crazy again and I need to repeat the process. Checks and balances.

So, all this talk to say that it’s about that time. After a long few weeks of work and mom life, culminating in weekend spent on the road eating combos and drinking red bull, it’s time to get this ship back on the right course!

I have a pretty standard template that I follow. The foods themselves tend to vary, but the schedule is rigid. Breakfast + lemon water, snack, lunch, snack, dinner. I also typically have a mug of hot tea (chamomile or echinacea) before bed to help me unwind faster. I make sure that I get at least 8 glasses of water a day and work out every night. I cut out coffee and added sugars, and I up my fiber/protein. It’s not a HUGE change from my daily routine, but it’s what I need to get myself back on track.

This week I’m doing a white bean dip and red pepper hummus for one snack + a chia cup/oat cup for the other, smoothies for breakfast, Costa Rican, Northern US and Southwest US inspired bowls for lunch, and pumpkin soup, zoodles and cauliflower fajitas for dinner. (Is your mouth watering yet? I know mine is!)

Since I don’t exactly have my life together as much as I’d like, I went shopping yesterday, and I’m starting my detox today. My goal is to get back on track, before heading to Cally next weekend! I’ve linked the meal plan/ingredient list/recipes that I’m using down below so that anyone who is interested can follow along! This has worked great for me in the past, and this time I’ve got my Costa Rican inspired lunch to make things exciting! 🙂 Also, I’ve designed this around veggies and dry ingredients that are convenient to me, and/or staples that I keep on hand, so that this isn’t some kind of crazy expensive week. Feel free to swap things around so that it works for you! Just make sure that you’re still getting enough calories, and from a variety of fruits and veggies! 🙂

I’m not a doctor or nurse of anything of the sort, so please use common sense and talk to your doctor if you have any reason to be concerned about switching up your diet. Let me know if you try this (or any of the recipes!) As always it’s fully vegetarian, and can easily be vegan-ized!